1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a light-weight bicycle crown having a horizontal inverted generally U-shaped longitudinal cross-sectional configuration including a center crown portion containing a vertical bore for receiving the bicycle steering shaft, and a pair of end portions containing vertical bores for receiving the stanchions of the front fork shock absorbers of the bicycle, respectively, characterized in that each of the crown leg portions that connect the end portions with the center portion contains a weight-reducing lightening bore that extends partially from the associated stanchion bore toward, but terminates in spaced relation to, the steering shaft bore.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
It is well known in the bicycle art to provide a front fork having a crown member that contains a first through bore for receiving the handlebar steering shaft, and a pair of second through bores arranged on opposite sides of the first bore for receiving the stanchions of the shock absorbers associated with the front fork of the bicycle. Examples of such known crown arrangements are shown in the patents to Chen et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,284,352, Wilson et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,259, and Voss et al U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,355.
Various attempts have been made in the bicycle art to reduce the weight of the bicycle components, thereby to increase the speed of operation and improve the handling and portability of the bicycle, and to reduce the cost of the components and thus the total cost of the bicycle. In the Voss et al patent, for example, it was proposed to provide lightening bores that extended from each end extremity of a hollow crown member completely across the associated crown end portion and the stanchion bore contained therein, and completely longitudinally through the associated leg connecting portion and terminating in communication with the steering shaft bore. The Voss et al patent also disclosed the provision of lightening recesses at various locations on the leg connecting portions of the crown member, thereby to reduce the total weight thereof. The drawback of such weight-reducing proposals is that the structural integrity of the hollow crown member is greatly reduced, thereby significantly weakening the crown member and adversely and dangerously affecting the critical strength of the bicycle front fork.
The present invention was developed to provide an improved light-weight bicycle crown member that avoids the above and other drawbacks of the known crown members of the prior art.